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Yu Mingze had been crushed ever since. He had even slit his wrists multiple times while bathing, attempting suicide, and the Yu Family had sent him abroad overnight to recuperate.

What was even more chilling was that while Yu Mingze was being driven into depression by online abuse from Chu Qingyi's fans, Zhou Yueze, Yu Mingze's fiancé, had begun passionately pursuing Chu Qingyi.

According to the original novel, during the Beggar Prince controversy, Zhou Yueze had increasingly come to recognize Chu Qingyi's precious kindness. Compared with the hypocritical and vicious Ye Mingzhao and Yu Mingze, who could not tell right from wrong, Chu Qingyi—innocent, kind, and clear about gratitude and grudges—was obviously more to Zhou Yueze's liking.

So he betrayed Ye Mingzhao, his childhood friend, abandoned Yu Mingze, his fiancé of many years, and resolutely chose to stand with Chu Qingyi, helping Chu Hengyi deal with the Ye family.

It could be said that Zhou Yueze and the Zhou family behind him had played an indispensable role in Chu Hengyi's smooth destruction of the Ye family in the original novel. After Ye Group went bankrupt, the market share left vacant by the Ye family was swiftly carved up by Zhou Yueze and several other competitors.

From then on, the Zhou family replaced the Ye family as the new leader of the New Sea City Chamber of Commerce Alliance. Chu Qingyi, the pawn who had led his fans into battle during the "Bring Down Ye" plan, also married into the Zhou family as he wished and achieved the class leap he had always dreamed of.

As for the Ye family and Ye Mingzhao, Chu Hengyi continued hunting them down until they were utterly destroyed. From then on, they lived in poverty and accomplished nothing, never again returning to their former glory. Ye Mingzhao, who had been driven out of the Ye family, met an even more tragic end, committing suicide in despair.

From a reader's perspective alone, Ye Mingzhao greatly admired Chu Hengyi's careful planning and ruthless methods. This spiderweb-like revenge plan, meticulous and thorough, steadily gnawed away at his opponent's sphere of influence and network of connections, arranging for their most trusted partners to deliver fatal blows at crucial moments—it had clearly inherited Ye Mingzhao's true teachings.

It made Ye Mingzhao eager for a worthy challenge. He believed Chu Hengyi would be very pleased to see him seated on the other side of the chessboard.

Since it was a game of chess, it was only interesting if the opponents were evenly matched and traded moves. What fun was there in one person holding the script and performing a one-man show?

Ye Mingzhao beckoned to Yu Mingze, signaling for him to hand over his phone.

Yu Mingze did not understand, but he obediently handed it over anyway. Taking the phone, Ye Mingzhao gently explained to Zhou Yueze on the other end, "It was my suggestion not to sign Chu Qingyi. Yueze, do you know Chu Qingyi's background?"

Hearing Ye Mingzhao's voice so suddenly, Zhou Yueze froze slightly. His heart skipped a beat, and it reflexively leapt into his throat. "What?"

"Chu Qingyi's father, Chu Jianguo, is Ye Mingyi's adoptive father. Chu Qingyi is the younger brother Ye Mingyi supported by working several part-time jobs after dropping out of middle school. I don't know whether you were aware of this connection, but when I spoke with Chu Qingyi just now, I found that he knew the details of Ye Mingyi's abduction back then extremely well... I now suspect that the Chu family may very well be connected to the traffickers who abducted Ye Mingyi."

The moment Ye Mingzhao said this, not only did Zhou Yueze, who was already riddled with guilt, feel shaken, even the interviewers present and listening to the gossip were stunned.

Yu Mingze's eyes flew wide open as he stared at Ye Mingzhao in utter disbelief.

Ye Mingzhao seemed completely unaware and continued, "I think that before the truth comes to light, there is no need for our production to get involved with someone who may be the family member of a criminal suspect. After all, Chu Qingyi is neither a renowned veteran actor nor an actor with any real drawing power, and he does not have the ability to bring funding into the production. For someone like him, putting the production's reputation at risk would be irresponsible to the entire creative team and the other investors. That's what I think. What do you think?"

Zhou Yueze: "..."

Ye Mingzhao abruptly changed tack and knowingly asked, "I'm very curious. Why are you so insistent on having Chu Qingyi play the male lead? Do you really think he resembles me?"

Zhou Yueze: "..."

Left speechless by Ye Mingzhao's two questions, Zhou Yueze could only stammer out his position. "I saw that he's also a student in the Finance Department at New Sea University, and he's your little fan. He often tells me how much he admires you... I thought the two of you would probably get along well, and I wanted to introduce him to you."

"There will be an opportunity." Ye Mingzhao smiled sweetly. For some reason, his eyes grew deeper and darker. "After all, the Chu family raised Ye Mingyi. I don't want to assume the worst of people. If it turns out that the Chu family had nothing to do with the traffickers who abducted Ye Mingyi back then, I will apologize to Student Chu Qingyi for my earlier offense."

Zhou Yueze continued stammering on the other end of the call, and Ye Mingzhao consoled him softly. "Don't take this matter to heart, either. I trust your judgment of people. Even if the Chu family really was connected to the traffickers who abducted Ye Mingyi back then, that would be a grievance from the previous generation and had nothing to do with Chu Qingyi. How old was he then? How could he possibly have been the mastermind behind Ye Mingyi's abduction?"

That might have been true, but if the Chu family really was connected to the traffickers who had abducted the Ye family's third young master, and Chu Qingyi, as someone in the know, had kept silent about those past events while peacefully enjoying Chu Hengyi's support, then this person's scheming and depth were simply too terrifying.

The interviewers sitting in a row all thought of this at the same time. Zhou Yueze on the other end of the line was obviously no fool either. He hung up with a dark expression, opened his contacts, and instinctively pulled up Chu Qingyi's information. After a long silence, however, he never made the call.

Ye Mingzhao returned the phone to Yu Mingze, then looked at the group of interviewers whose ears were practically standing up like rabbits' and reminded them with a smile, "This concerns the Ye family, so I hope everyone can keep it confidential."

Every member of the creative team swept by Ye Mingzhao's gaze jolted and rushed to promise, "Of course, of course. We definitely won't spread it around." As for discussing it privately, that was another matter. At any rate, they would never let the Ye family know that they were all gossiping about the Ye family.

And that Chu Qingyi—he looked so neat and delicate, yet appearances really could be deceiving! If Young Master Ye's speculation was true, then Chu Qingyi was quite something. Not only was he deeply calculating, he had even made Yu Mingze's fiancé strongly support him for the male lead role. Who knew what kind of spell he had cast on Zhou Yueze in private?

The interviewers exchanged looks, their gazes full of meaning.

Ye Mingzhao saw it all, yet acted as though he had noticed nothing.

Ye Mingzhao was the final applicant to audition. Once he finished, the entire audition process came to an end.

Yu Mingze volunteered to drive Ye Mingzhao back to New Sea.

On the way, Yu Mingze listened as Ye Mingzhao called the Ye family. He mentioned what Chu Qingyi had said and suggested that the Ye family immediately arrange for Chu Jianguo to undergo DNA comparison testing—

Back when the police had pursued the traffickers, the traffickers had panicked and driven their vehicle off a cliff, resulting in the tragic destruction of the vehicle and the deaths of everyone inside. However, the police had still recovered a large number of hair and blood samples from the burned wreckage. They had simply lacked comparison samples and had been unable to confirm the traffickers' identities.

"Earlier, I had Lawyer Liu meet with the Chu family because I intended to transfer the property under my name to them, repaying the Chu family for raising Mingyi. If Chu Jianguo agreed to my proposal, he would return to New Sea with Lawyer Liu to handle the transfer procedures." At this point, Ye Mingzhao paused slightly, and his tone abruptly softened into gentleness. "I remember that the blood samples recovered from the vehicle wreckage back then were stored in the DNA database of the New Sea Municipal Public Security Bureau. If Chu Jianguo really comes, could Lawyer Liu take him to the Public Security Bureau for a DNA test first?"

Chu Jianguo had come full of joy, only to be hit with such a crushing blow. Would the extreme fall from heaven to hell be too much for him to accept all at once?

Ye Mingzhao sighed with some pity. Hopefully, nothing happened to him.

Yu Mingze looked as though he wanted to say something after Ye Mingzhao ended the call. He held it in for a long time, but ultimately could not help asking, "Did you come to the audition because of Chu Qingyi? Did you already know something was wrong with the Chu family? Where did you find out? And how could you be so certain that Chu Qingyi would let something slip?"